Letters
by Anjyu
Summary: Setsuna begins receiving a slew of letters that begin on October 1st and end on the 28th the day of her birthday. Setsuna has an eerie feeling about the letters though, and they begin making her paranoid.


**Letters**

She walked to the mailbox and looked through the pile of bills and magazines: water bill, electric bill, racing catalog (Haruka's), teen j-pop idol magazine (Hotaru's), and then she stopped when she noticed the small pink envelope addressed to her.

Today was October the 1st. Why was she getting mail, and what could possibly be in the envelope? She opened it to reveal a tiny card with the intoxicating smell of perfume rising from it. She coughed a bit and opened the card to reveal a single message.

_Twenty-eight days until the big day!_

_What big day?_

_Was this some kind of joke?_

She shook her head and walked back into the house with the rest of the mail but secretly tucked the card away in her back pocket. The following day Haruka retrieved the mail and plopped the card down right in the middle of the table while she was drinking tea.

"This was addressed to you Sets! Perhaps a secret admirer?" Haruka winked causing her to almost choke on her brew.

"Haha! Right!" Setsuna choked back her laughter rolling her eyes and opened the card to the same intoxicating scent of perfume with a similar note.

_Twenty-seven days until the big day!_

_This was a joke!_

Some crazy person had obviously found her address and was now dead set on making a joke out of this, but she quickly disregarded it tossing the letter into the trash.

The letters didn't stop but continued in the same fashion in a synchronized manner. The card was always full of the same scented perfume after being opened along with a new number following the previous one.

She had finally had enough when she had received her twenty-first letter on October 21st. She stormed into the kitchen to confront her three other housemates.

"Do you think this is a big joke or something? It's getting really eerie!" Setsuna growled slamming her newest letter in the center of the dining room table they were all seated at. Haruka put down her afternoon paper. Michiru quaintly set down her cup of tea, and Hotaru promptly took her ear buds out of her ears as they all gave the time guardian their full attention.

"What's the matter Setsuna-mama?" Hotaru chimed in first.

"You look furious." Haruka pointed out furrowing a brow.

"You seem unsettled about something dear." Michiru spoke last.

Setsuna sighed settling in a straight backed chair and handed Michiru the card who quickly took it out and scanned it's contents.

"It's just a card with a number on it…Someone probably thought it'd be funny to play a little joke on you." Haruka pointed out taking the card.

"Haruka's right…You probably shouldn't worry or anything." Michiru pointed out handing her the card ,while Hotaru simply shrugged her shoulders dismissing the whole thing.

~x~

The following day Setsuna began having frequent anxiety attacks about the mail coming. What was going to happen on the 28th anyway? She made her way to the mailbox that day to retrieve her newest card and expected the same usual countdown notice but today the card was different. The envelope she found seemed old and outdated with a million postmarks on it. She promptly opened it and squealed when several spiders crawled out. She threw the detestable thing on the ground and stomped on it. She was met by a gentle hand on her shoulder. She turned around to meet the face of Haruka.

"Sets what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost." the blond remarked.

"Didn't you see the envelope on the ground? Spiders crawled out of it today!" she shuddered.

Haruka blinked picking up the stomped piece of mail on the ground and gave her a blank look, "Setsuna this is the cell phone bill."

"No look it has all kinds of postage marks on it see!" Setsuna exclaimed ripping the envelope from her hands only to reveal the cell phone bill. Had it all been in her head?

"I think I need to go lie down." she said softly shoving the piece of mail back in Haruka's hand as she promptly when upstairs to sort this all out.

All she could think about were those haunting letters as she slept. What lied at the end of them? The next day she refused to leave the house or go outside and this lasted until the 28th. She walked downstairs to an empty house. It was late in the afternoon and on the table was a note explaining that they'd all gone over to Rei's and that when she felt up to it she should come to. She decided that running away wasn't going to help anything, so she promptly took a shower and got ready to go. She locked the door but noticed the mailbox setting there like the permanent eyesore it was. She stuck her nose in the air and got in the car and drove away from the Outer's mansion.

After arriving at Rei's she was met by all of her friends in a warm birthday celebration filled with cake and presents. She had been so stuck on those letters that she'd forgotten her own birthday.

Later that night after the party was over and almost everyone had gone home, she decided to confide in Rei and tell her about the letters. The miko narrowed her eyes and told her that she should burn them all because they all carried a dark presence about them.

Setsuna had followed her advice and they next day threw them all in a pile to burn as the strong intoxicating smell of incense filled the air-foreshadowing the same scent as it's perfume.

Setsuna had forgotten about all the letters until they began coming again exactly twenty eight days before her birthday. She has no idea who sends them but ends the ritual the same way each year-burning them until there isn't one left. The sender always remains anonymous never giving her a clue as to who it could be but one day she may discover that she was the one sending herself the letters all along warning her of a future she was never meant to have.


End file.
